cjh

Is audio being sent to monitors via embedded SDI? If so a work around maybe a headphone out of the dir's hand held rig. The SDI cables are worth a dbl check, even tho vid says they all good they may not be or one may have a termination issue etc, if it's unbranded cable it may well be lacking in RF insulation. Good luck! C.

A collaborative costume dept is the main tool to get the best of situations like these, plus a cast member who is open to some experimentation of mic placement in order to capture their performance as best as possible. Whenever possible try and get an early look at the costumes so you can get a jump on anything that might be a problem, in the calm of offset and less pressured time other depts will be much more open and negotiable to sorting such things.

to coin a new old phrase: Two's company, three's a crew.

The slower on set pace a 2 person crew work at is only half the argument, to me a 3 person crew is as much about what that 3rd person can also offer as a fast deploy 2nd boom and onset problem solver which has a direct effect on the end result of the quality and usability of the production audio. My aim is to get the best audio possible and that is always my main discussion point when negotiating a 3rd or 4th person, on set work flow speed is also a valid argument but I use it as a secondary point, fair to say that is often the clincher in terms of production saying yes. It's all project and budget specific of course and sometimes a 2 person crew is acceptable but the project mentioned in this thread is definitely not one of those.

With that cast every single mixer who gets offered that job should turn it down until a 2AS is confirmed.

Thanks all, I think the IMP splitter looks like the go. Looking fwd to a cart rebuild, just need some time off to do it!

whats out there? Need to maximize ouput flexibility of my cart, needs to be small, dc powered etc - will be used to split line level comms feeds. Thanks! Chris.

+ 1000

On the mocap shoots I've done put the lav (dpa 4063) on the side of the camera boom arm with a decent fluff on it, it just off to the side to avoid direct breath hits and it works well, especially for low level stuff. I also use zax wireless which you can adjust preamp on the fly and their neverclip system deals with unexpected level changes pretty well. That said high dynamic performance with fast changes is still tricky, especially on multi talent scenes. But that's the best thing about mocap is that it is a dream set up for the boom and that is always the primary capture mic. With a good boom op and remote tx ability you can pretty much deal with anything. I always look forward to mocap shoots because you have the consistent ability to turn in very good tracks. Lav mic on forehead when not using facial cam rigs which still sounds good but I prefer the arm rig though its a bit more fiddly to rig. We also put the Tx on a pouch on the back along side all the other boxes they wear, the removal of them is fast, we have them disconnected faster than the camera team disconnect the facial cam umbilical so all good so never an issue.

This is more a question for camera assists, we supply the slates but they are the ones that actually use them. From my experience most prefer the original size denecke type slate.

I'm doing a low budget film now that is mostly 2 handers and mostly only on 2 simple locations. I have a boom op, and a very good one at that. I do location sound because getting the best sound out of any scene is very high on my job satisfaction requirement list so I never do any feature work alone. Even on low budget I will push for a 2nd AS also, that often gets a no but makes prod realise that they really need at least a 2 person team as that is already a compromise in my books. I say to producers if they want good sound then I need a minimum of xxxx resources (which varies per prod) and if they say no to my minimums then I say no to the job. This is not about money either, it is just about being able to do my job and turn in rushes that I am happy with, way to many compromises when doing it alone. I applaud your saying no Fred and you said it for exactly the right reasons. 2 handed scenes may appear simple on the page but there are many things on the day that can complicate the sound capture of even single headed performances.

As mentioned, if 3D camera to camera sync is a big deal and because of this all 3D shoots I've worked on cam dept has supplied the TC setup and given me one of their units for sound sync. I wouldn't go near it without thorough cam tests and a decent hire fee to sort it.

one week in with the Pana DLX2, doesn't have the audio module so TC lock only, all works well and the fans are a lot better than a standard red build.

thanks, it's the red way to release cameras when not everything is working (like the audio board), good to see Panavision is keeping up that fine tradition.

Am about to do feature that may use the new DXL2 camera, it has the Red 8k sensor but they have a much upgraded cooling system so hopefully less problematic. Any user reviews re noise and workflow, audio/tc inputs etc, will be feeding audio and TC from zax ERX. Thanks, Chris.

Did a few test records and visited post, the issue is as expected, it's the 2k notch filter on the TRX's that does it, unbeknown to me it also puts notch filters in at 4 & 6k. I think in the past I never used the 2k filter but for some reason selected it on last shoot. In reality you can't hear any difference with it switched in or out and I had it in as a precaution, would just be nice to know about the it also being at 4&6k before hearing about it post shoot. Always learning, which is good! C.

Hey all Zaxcom users out there, had a very odd thing come up with some rushes from a recent shoot, that being when put under the post microscope most tracks (mix & Iso) had what appears to be notch filters at 2,4 & 6k (see attached pic). I use full Zax setup incl Fusion/mix12/zax wireless boom and body packs etc, have done for a while and have not had this issue before. I am at a loss to where these came from, I don't use any eq in the field, def had all the notch filters turned off etc. I have used the 2k filters in the TRX's to stop any possible zaxnet interference but what about the 4 & 6k etc? And while I'm here, what are zax users thoughts on the 2k trx filter, use it / not use it / etc. If it is the issue here I'm def switching them all off. Regards & thanks, Chris.

Hi all, have a series coming up which involves a bunch of self drive car scenes, crew will be in follow vehicle. in the past I have done the standard wireless everything and recorded/mixed from follow vehicle. I'm just playing around with Nomad auto-mix and think I might use that and leave nomad in picture car with conservatively set levels and then just use one sender system for monitoring in the follow car, this will enable a more reliable link as it will be IFB only and easy to run an ext antenna etc compared to messing around with multiple wireless mic transmitters from pic to follow car. Curious of thoughts re auto-mix in general, I haven't used it in anger yet. (prob be 3 to 5 mic's in car depending on scene). Thanks & regards, Chris.

Fan boys are so boring.

Patrick, the Red cameras are badly designed sound wise, period. Picture wise the camera crews I work with say similar things about the usability of their design also. Granted they have been instrumental in moving camera technology forward and can shoot "8K" but they pale in overall design and functionality compared to the likes of Arri etc. One thing that hasn't been mention in this thread and is the worst thing about Red cameras for sound has nothing to do with on board rec of a scratch track or otherwise, it's their very poor design in regards to cooling. The fans and their control systems have always been less than ideal and the latest 8k versions are some of the worst of the lot. The 8K sensor and the heap of processing that goes with it creates heat, think quiet dialogue, think rolling resets, think warm locations, think about all those lovely performances lost to some "stupid" as poorly designed camera for sound.

I've done tests with similar amp to above, 2W and 3W and compared them with my L com 1W both on walk test range with erx and rf explorer. The small 2/3W amps did give a little more range and gain but only slightly, where they were bad and the reason I no longer use them was the side band freq noise, they spewed out a lot more spurious RF around the center frequency which tends to get into other gear and also not a great thing when working on set with a lot of other gear on 2.4. Can't recommend the RF explorer enough when setting up and testing wireless systems, they are a wealth of info and shine a small torch into that black hole of wireless reception.

I got the rycote inv mount for my mini cmit also, great suspension design but when in use terrible wind noise when swinging making mount unusable. Something to do with the clamp mech affecting the chassis, not sure exactly but works fine in another more standard rycote mount (already pictured in this thread) If you have a mini cmit do not buy the inv mount!

got one for my mini cmit, initially looked good, nice design, can take foam and even softie at a pinch. Found when using it it had an odd wind noise when doing normal swings, much worse and more pronounced than my cmit5U in cinela mount with same foam. Put mini cmit into another standard rycote clip mount and noise disappeared and swing noise matched cmit5u rig. I think the clamp mech at the back was doing something to the chassis resonance or something, bummer as otherwise good mount. C.

LOTR yes, Hobbit no, a lot of that was production dialogue. Also the best dialogue performances are generally not ADR, it is used often to alter the performance or done to cover changes in story line or scene intent in post, just as much as it is done to cover for noisy backgrounds etc.

most use the ambient quick tip over this way, I used them for a while and all good. C.